New Alien Film in the Works According To Ridley Scott, Doubtful To Revisit Prometheus

It seems another Alien film is in the works. While one writer already revealed they have a treatment for a film that involves Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley, original Alien director Ridley Scott confirmed to Yahoo! Entertainment that a new movie is in development in the Alien universe. After directing the original film, Scott handed directorial duties over to James Cameron for Aliens, David Fincher for Alien 3, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet for Alien: Resurrection. After 30 years away, Scott returned to the Alien universe to direct the prequel Prometheus and its sequel, Alien: Covenant. Scott casts doubt on the possibility of returning to those worlds in the next Alien movie.

“That’s in process. We went down a route to try and reinvent the wheel with Prometheus and Covenant,” he said. “Whether or not we go directly back to that is doubtful because Prometheus woke it up very well. But you know, you’re asking fundamental questions like, ‘Has the Alien himself, the facehugger, the chestburster, have they all run out of steam? Do you have to rethink the whole bloody thing and simply use the word to franchise?’ That’s always the fundamental question.”

These comments are similar to what Scott said in June, though at the time, he seemed unsure of the franchise’s future now that The Walt Disney Company owns it. “I still think there’s a lot of mileage in Alien, but I think you’ll have to now re-evolve,” Scott said. “What I always thought when I was making it, the first one, why would a creature like this be made and why was it traveling in what I always thought was a kind of war-craft, which was carrying a cargo of these eggs. What was the purpose of the vehicle and what was the purpose of the eggs? That’s the thing to question — who, why, and for what purpose is the next idea, I think.”

Alien: Covenant earned a dismal $74 million at the domestic box office. It fared better in international makers, earning $240 million. Whether Disney believes there’s still life in the franchise remains to be seen, though the company has hinted that it wouldn’t let any of the properties it gained through its acquisition of 20th Century Fox go to waste.

One example of this can be seen in Marvel Comics obtaining the rights to publish new Alien (and Predator) comic books. Marvel will release an omnibus reprinting the original Alien stories first published by Dark Horse Comics.